NEW EDITION COMING Student Prices start at $23.95! AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: Your Voice, Your Choice, 5/e Matthew R. Kerbel Villanova University

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1 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT NEW EDITION COMING Student Prices start at $23.95! AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: Your Voice, Your Choice, 5/e Matthew R. Kerbel Villanova University 2014 (Available July 2013) Approx. 608 pages Paperback: Ordering ISBN: Online Version: Ordering ISBN: This highly regarded, affordable mainstream American government text is both a comprehensive introduction and a complete program, with the core print text and supplements carefully crafted to work together to benefit both instructor and student. The Fifth Edition maintains its highly acclaimed, non-ideological framework, conversational narrative, and three integrated guiding themes: accessibility, relevance, and choice. Updated! Includes coverage of current topics, data, and scholarly research Extensively revised and updated for the Obama era including the 2012 election and the debate over contemporary issues and recent events such as gun control, immigration reform, fiscal policy, healthcare reform, and more! New! Contemporary Design Includes a market tested interior design, revised and upgraded tables, graphs, and charts. Updated! Box Inserts Featured throughout the text, these box inserts focus is to make the study of the American political system more relevant. They include: Demystifying Government boxes, which clarify aspects of American Government which might otherwise seem cloudy or complex. Global Topics boxes, which invite students to think comparatively about American government in an increasingly interconnected world. Biography boxes, illustrate the lives of key political figures, helping students figure out how they fit into the American political system. Issue boxes, which encourage students to think about political issues and decide for themselves how they feel about difficult and controversial matters. Instructor Supplements: Instructor s Resource Manual Test Item File Comprehensive Set of Four-color PowerPoint Lecture Slides Student Supplements: Printable Lecture Guide-Downloadable Printable Study Guide-Downloadable Interactive Online Study Guide Enhanced! Student Friendly Pedagogy Includes Chapter Outlines/Learning Objectives, Marginal Notes, Comprehensive Chapter Reviews, and much more! Provides a Comparative Perspective on American Government Integrated throughout the core text and through the Global Topics box inserts, students are encouraged to think comparatively about American government and its interaction with an increasingly interconnected world. Emphasis on Critical Thinking Readers are encouraged to explore how theory is connected to practice, whether their ideas about government are rooted in opinion or fact, and why political actors - from citizens to politicians to lobbyists to reporters - act the way they do. Unique Narrative A natural and relaxed writing style promotes a sense of a conversation between the author and reader. Making Our Government and Politics Accessible and Relevant The text speaks to and with students about the citizenship choices available to them while presenting American government in terms they can relate to and appreciate. Meeting students where they learn and professors where they teach The narrative presented in a modular style that offers students core course materials in digestible chunks and instructors flexibility in syllabus sequence. To Request an Examination Copy or More Information: us directly at Textbook Media Press: info@textbookmedia.com Visit our website and register:

2 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: Your Voice, Your Choice, 5/e Matthew R. Kerbel, Ph.D. Villanova University 2014 (Available July 2013) Approx. 608 pages Paperback: Ordering ISBN: Online Version: Ordering ISBN: For more information, visit Each chapter concludes with a Chapter Review, Key Terms, Resources, and Notes. I: Why Should We Care About American Democracy Chapter 1: Should We Care about Politics? 1-1 Introduction 1-2 Democracy and Everyday Life 1-3 Making Democracy Practical 1-4 Buying in to Authority 1-5 Inheriting Legitimacy 1-6 Earning Legitimacy 1-7 Power Surge 1-7a Facts and Judgments 1-8 It s Not Fair! 1-9 Unequal and Different 1-10 Equal and Free? 1-11 Whose Choice? 1-12 So Should I Care about Politics? Chapter 2: The Constitution and Federalism: Setting the Ground Rules for Politics 2-1 Introduction 2-2 Ground Rules for Revolution 2-3 Ground Rules for Independence 2-4 Ground Rules for Self-Governance First Attempt 2-5 Ground Rules for Self-Governance Second Attempt 2-6 Ground Rules in Theory and Practice 2-7 If Men Were Angels 2-8 Selling the Constitution 2-9 Changing the Constitution 2-10 Federalism: Only in America 2-11 Who Would Create a System Like This? II: Citizenship and Democracy Chapter 3: Public Opinion: What Is It, and What Does It Have to Do with Me? 3-1 Introduction 3-2 How Much Do We Know about Politics? 3-3 Political Attitudes: From the Hear 3-4 Political Beliefs: From the Head 3-5 Political Ideology: Beliefs That Make Sense 3-6 Measuring Public Opinion 3-7 Measuring Public Opinion in Politics 3-7a Candidates and Opinion Polls 3-8 What Should We Make of Public Opinion? The Constitution Chapter 4: Political Culture, Socialization, and Participation 4-1 Introduction 4-2 Political Culture: Who Are We? 4-3 Political Socialization: How We Become Political Creatures 4-4 Political Participation: Getting Involved 4-5 Young and Old, Men and Women 4-6 Black and White, Rich and Poor 4-7 I Couldn t Care Less! 4-8 Why Vote? 4-9 How Can I Decide? 4-10 A Look Ahead: Apathy, Efficacy, and the Media III: Connections between Citizens and Government Chapter 5: Mass Media: Influencing What We Think About 5-1 Gatekeeping 5-2 Political History of the Media Colonial Press to Global Media 5-3 How Do We Know If It s News? 5-4 Infotainment and Its Implications 5-5 Distinguishing News from Entertainment 5-6 More Choices, Fewer Options? 5-7 The Politics of Entertainment I: Elections 5-8 The Politics of Entertainment II: Governing 5-9 Beyond Agenda Setting 5-10 Media Bias? 5-11 Making Sense of Media Coverage Chapter 6: Political Parties: Connecting Us to the Electoral Process 6-1 Introduction 6-2 Why Two Parties? 6-3 Party Systems 6-4 The Party in Government 6-5 The Party in the Electorate Chapter 7: Campaigns and Elections: Vehicles for Democratic Expression 7-1 Introduction 7-2 Decisions, Part I: The Selection Process 7-3 Decisions, Part II: The Election Process 7-4 The Electoral College: Is This Any Way to Elect a President? 7-5 Leading or Following? Chapter 8: Interest Groups: Accessing Government through Common Membership 8-1 Introduction 8-2 Factions Again? 8-3 Types of Interest Groups 8-4 Would You Join an Interest Group? 8-5 Lobbyists and Lobbying 8-6 Who Are These Guys? 8-7 Competition or Cooperation? 8-8 Triangles or Networks? 8-9 Does Access Equal Influence? 9 Nominations, Elections, and Campaigns IV: Institutions of Democracy Chapter 9: Congress 9-1 Introduction 9-2 Getting to Congress Who Wins and Why? 9-3 Adjusting to Congress 9-4 Serving in Congress: How Congress Works 9-5 Serving in Congress: What Congress Does 9-5d Impeachment 9-6 Leading Congress 9-7 Working in Congress: Washington 9-8 Working in Congress: Back Home 9-9 Staying in Congress Chapter 10: The Presidency 10-1 Introduction 10-2 Growth of the Presidency 10-3 Formal and Informal Sources of Presidential Power 10-4 The Media as a Presidential Resource 10-5 Chief Executive 10-6 Chief Legislator 10-7 Chief of State and Foreign Policy Leader 10-8 Commander-in-Chief 10-9 Chief of Party The Institutional Presidency Second in Command The Ebb and Flow of Presidential Influence Chapter 11: The Federal Bureaucracy 11-1 Introduction 11-2 What s the Bureaucracy Really Like? 11-3 Who s in the Bureaucracy? To Request an Examination Copy or More Information: us directly at Textbook Media Press: info@textbookmedia.com Visit our website and register:

3 AMERICAN GOVERNMENT 11-4 Departments, Agencies, Commissions, and Corporations 11-5 What the Bureaucracy Does 11-6 How the Bureaucracy Has Changed 11-7 Reinventing Government 11-8 Bureaucratic Inefficiency 11-9 Congressional Influence on the Bureaucracy Chapter 12: The Judiciary 12-1 Introduction 12-2 A Judiciary without Power 12-3 Judicial Review 12-4 The Court System 12-5 Deciding Cases 12-6 Selecting Cases 12-7 Nomination Politics 12-8 A Political Court 12-9 Consistency and Legitimacy Activism and Restraint V: What Government Does and How Well It Works Chapter 13: Establishing Civil Rights 13-1 Introduction 13-2 Civil Rights 13-3 Equal Protection 13-4 Civil Rights and African Americans 13-5 Civil Rights and Native Americans 13-6 Civil Rights and Hispanic Americans 13-7 Civil Rights and Asian Americans 13-8 Gender Issues 13-9 People with Disabilities Gay and Lesbian Rights Senior Citizen Rights Chapter 14: Protecting Civil Liberties 14-1 Introduction 14-2 Religious Freedom 14-3 Freedom of Expression 14-4 Freedom of the Press 14-5 Freedom of Assembly and Association 14-6 Right to Bear Arms 14-7 Right to Privacy Chapter 15: Domestic Policy and Policy Making 15-1 Domestic Policies 15-2 Regulatory Policies 15-3 Distributive Policies 15-4 Social Welfare Policies 15-5 Taxing and Spending Chapter 16: Foreign and Defense Policies 16-1 Introduction 16-2 The Players at Home 16-3 Economic Policies 16-4 Diplomatic Policies 16-5 Military Policies 16-6 Strategic Policies 16-7 Foreign Policy and Domestic Politics 16-8 Completing the Circle Glossary Appendices A. The Declaration of Independence B. Constitution of the United States C. Federalist 10 D. Federalist 51 E. Anti-Federalists and the Constitution F. Race and the Constitution G. Presidents and Vice Presidents H. Presidential Election Results I. Party Control of Congress J. Justices of the Supreme Court Since 1900 Instructor Supplements: In addition to containing unique online features, American Government: Your Voice, Your Future, 5e comes with the following supplements on an instructor s CD or download: Test Item File An extensive set of multiple-choice, short answer, and essay questions for every chapter for creating original quizzes and exams. Instructor s Manual An enhanced version of the book offering assistance in preparing lectures, identifying learning objectives, developing essay exams and assignments, and constructing course syllabi. PowerPoint Presentations Key points in each chapter are illustrated in a set of PowerPoint files designed to assist with instruction. Student Supplements (For-Sale): Online Lecture Guide This Lecture Guide is designed for student use and is available as a study tool. Note: Instructors can request the PowerPoint version of these slides to use as developed or to customize Interactive Online Study Guide Chapter Overview summarizes each chapter. Short Answer Questions test your grasp on key concepts from the chapter. Quiz questions help you prep for tests. Also includes Key Terms and Fill-inthe-blank quizzes. All designed to reinforce key concepts in the chapter. Printable Online Study Guide Printable version of the online study guide available via downloadable PDF chapters for easy self-printing. To Request an Examination Copy or More Information: us directly at Textbook Media Press: info@textbookmedia.com Visit our website and register:

4 WHY SHOULD WE CARE ABOUT AMERICAN DEMOCRACY? PART 1 Should We Care about Politics? 1 CHAPTER Learning Objectives When you have completed this chapter, you should be able to: Understand the difference between a direct and representative democracy. Distinguish between legitimacy and authority. Explain how legitimacy and authority are related to power. Identify political resources and why they are the tools of power. Define elitism and pluralism, and explain how each offers a different view of how resources are distributed in society. Differentiate equality of opportunity from equality of outcome. Relate political equality to equality of opportunity, and economic and social equality to equality of outcome. Define liberty, and explain the trade-offs between liberty and equality of outcome. Appreciate government as the arbiter in disputes between liberty and social responsibility. 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Democracy and Everyday Life 1.3 Making Democracy Practical 1.4 Buying in to Authority 1.5 Inheriting Legitimacy 1.6 Earning Legitimacy 1.7 Power Surge 1.8 It s Not Fair! 1.9 Unequal and Different 1.10 Equal and Free? 1.11 Whose Choice? 1.12 So Should I Care about Politics? Chapter Review Key Terms Resources Notes 1 ker_ch01.indd 1

5 1.1 Introduction During your lifetime, when you may or may not have been paying attention to politics, the United States experienced in rapid succession a string of unprecedented shocks to its political system. Conservatives, led by Republican Newt Gingrich, swept away forty years of Democratic control of the House of Representatives in a massive upset that installed a new order in Congress that ruled at will for a little less than a year. The Gingrich group soon overplayed its hand and was repudiated by a crafty Bill Clinton, who used his platform as president to turn public opinion against his political adversaries. Yet, just as Clinton appeared to ascend politically, events surrounding his extracurricular activities with a White House intern named Monica Lewinsky snowballed into impeachment proceedings against him. It was only the second time in history that a president was brought to the brink of political extinction by a Senate impeachment trial. Clinton survived, only to see his handpicked successor, Vice President Al Gore, lose the next presidential election, despite winning more votes than his opponent only the fourth time in history that happened and only after the election went into a seven-week overtime period of ballot challenges that culminated in an unprecedented 5 4 Supreme Court decision that effectively installed George W. Bush in the White House. No one had ever witnessed anything quite like it. The Republican Bush took office with razor-thin Republican majorities in the House and Senate, only to see the Senate flip to Democratic control within months of his inauguration when one moderate Republican, feeling ignored by the conservative White House, left his party to become an independent. Nothing like this had ever happened before. If afternoon soap operas had a political theme, this one would have had enough intrigue, sex, and ego to run a long, long time. But if you didn t notice much of this, or didn t hear your parents talk too much about it join the club. For all of its great story elements, during times of peace and prosperity, many of us pay little attention to politics, and even if we do pay attention, we often have vague impressions of what s going on rather than fully formed opinions. That s just the way politics works in our lives. Then came the horrific events of September 11, 2001: the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and a virtual declaration of war by Washington on terrorism. For many of us, politics was instantly thrust into the center of our daily lives. As anthrax-coated letters began appearing in the mail, Americans of all generations began turning to our elected leaders for reassurance and to government agencies for help. Such is the way of life in a crisis, when public decisions supersede private actions. This, too, is the way politics works in our lives. In the days following the attack, Americans experienced a wave of unity and national purpose, and political differences were briefly put aside. But, good feelings soon gave way to an era of partisan rancor greater than anything we saw in the 1990s. The invasion of Iraq, initially supported by members of both major political parties and large majorities of Americans, became bogged down in the wake of an insurgency that could not be tamed or overcome. American casualties grew as more people started to regard Iraq as a war of choice justified by questionable claims about the security threat posed by the regime of Saddam Hussein, rather than as a war of necessity fought to protect us from terrorism. In 2004, a divided nation re-elected President Bush after a high-decibel campaign marked by shrill rhetoric. By 2005, anti-war sentiment entered the mainstream in response to the actions of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier, who camped out at Bush s Texas ranch during the president s August vacation, demanding that he answer her questions about why America was in Iraq. Her simple act of defiance gave voice to growing anti-war feelings and spawned an anti-sheehan counter-movement that vocally defended the president and his policy. With no end to the war in sight, public support 2 Part 1 Why Should We Care about American Democracy? ker_ch01.indd 2

6 As the twenty-first century began, a long period of peace and prosperity provided the backdrop to a series of wild political swings. Pictured: President Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat agree on the outlines of a Middle East peace settlement (see previous page); the Hubble Space Telescope; the studios of the Oprah Winfrey Show; the original PlayStation. T1 for the war dissipated, leaving George W. Bush a deeply unpopular president and many Americans with a sour feeling about the direction of the country. Then came a deep recession and, in 2008, a financial crisis that rocked confidence in global markets and had some economists speculating about whether we were on the verge of a second Great Depression. Against this backdrop, promising to bridge partisan divisions and re-shape America s direction, Barack Obama was elected the first African American president of the United States a feat so remarkable that, until it happened, mainstream political commentators wondered whether it was possible despite polling evidence that suggested it was inevitable. But if Obama s election defied history, his promise to bridge partisan differences fell short. Following a flurry of legislative activity during his first two years in office including passage of a controversial law to extend health care coverage to the uninsured a reaction from the right by Tea Party patriots casting themselves in the mold of the original American revolutionaries resulted in Republicans regaining control of the House of Representatives in 2010, abruptly dashing the president s legislative plans and ushering in another round of angry partisan gridlock. Just when it appeared the Obama era would be short-lived, a reaction on the political left against the perceived excesses of the very wealthy took hold across the country in late 2011 as people took to the streets in solidarity with those who had built a permanent occupation in a park in New York s financial district. Although Occupy Wall Street faded from the headlines by the following spring, the nation remained focused on economic inequality. This shift in the political narrative away from the anger generated by Obama s activist first two years, combined with a gradually improving economy, helped lift the president to re-election in 2012, albeit with the continuation of divided government and partisan conflict. It can be draining to come of age in the midst of such tumultuous political activity but it can be energizing as well, depending on how we react to it. And our reactions can be critical to determining how political events will play out. Whether we pay a lot of attention to politics or ignore it completely, whether in times of comfort or times of anxiety, we live in a country where you can draw a straight line between your choice of whether or not to get involved and the kind of government we get. No one will make you vote if you don t want to, and no one will make you watch the news (well, your professor might, but you ll be back to having free choice over your news-viewing habits in a few months). You can make your own choices about what you know and whether or how much to get involved. Some combination of these individual decisions and the choice to be apolitical is a decision determines what happens in Washington, in your state capital, in your community, and to you. Chapter 1 Should We Care about Politics? 3 ker_ch01.indd 3

7 TABLE 1.1 Is It Relevant? Here s a list of activities that may or may not constitute ways we can interact with democracy. Select the ones you believe have something to do with your relationship with government or politics. 1. Voting in a congressional election 2. Watching the Daily Show on Comedy Central 3. Joining AAA (American Automobile Association) for towing services 4. Trying to drive 10 miles over the speed limit to avoid getting a ticket 5. Making a $10 contribution to a candidate for mayor 6. Attending a private college or university 7. Camping out at Yosemite 8. Buying a Diet Coke 9. Buying a lottery ticket 10. Flushing the toilet They re all Yes answers. Surprised? Here are the reasons why: 1. Easy question: voting is the most obvious way we participate in politics. 2. Political and social satire get us to think about what government is doing. 3. Even though it may not be why we join, organizations like AAA lobby elected officials over legislation. 4. Government officials write a lot of rules we live under, like speed limit laws, and enforce them with agents like police officers who determine whether 10 miles over the limit is bending the law too much. 5. Another easy one: money plays a big role in politics. 6. Whether it s adhering to national antidiscrimination policy on admission or hiring decisions, or administering federally subsidized student loans, even private schools find it hard to escape the influence of government. 7. National parks like Yosemite are preserved through government actions. 8. Almost every state imposes a sales tax on food items. If you live in Delaware or New Hampshire and you answered no, go ahead and give yourself credit because they have no sales tax. 9. Lotteries are established and supported by state governments, and the proceeds are often used to pay for government programs. 10. You can t even find privacy from government actions here. Most places have a sewer system that wouldn t be there if not for the government. Score Yourself: If you got 8 10 correct, you pay more attention than most people to politics and government. Odds are you know what C-SPAN is (and if you don t, go to org). If you got 5 7 correct, you have a pretty good feel for the role of government in our lives. If you got fewer than 5 correct, you may be in for some interesting surprises! So, should we care about what happens in politics? Does it really matter? Does it only matter in times of crisis? Wait don t answer yet. Let s talk first about where you fit in about the big and small ways your American citizenship invites you to interact with democracy before deciding whether it s worth your time and energy to give politics and government a second thought once you re done with this course. Let s use the quiz in Table 1.1 as a starting point. 1.2 Democracy and Everyday Life Ever since grade school, we ve had a pretty basic sense of what it means to live in a democracy. At the same time, we don t always know what democracy means in everyday life, except maybe for some of the obvious things like voting and making contributions to political candidates. These are the most direct and visible ways we interact with government. Think, though, about some of the choices in the Is it relevant? quiz. We can also interact indirectly, passively, or without direct knowledge that we re in a political situation at all. We may even interact against our will, like if the dues we pay the American 4 Part 1 Why Should We Care about American Democracy? ker_ch01.indd 4

8 DEMYSTIFYING GOVERNMENT Ballots That Disenfranchise Months after the conclusion of the disputed 2000 election, the question of ballot inequity was still a big topic of discussion. George W. Bush had won the presidency following a pitched battle over the official vote count in the state of Florida a battle that included questions about confusing and irregular ballots, and machines that made a significant number of mistakes reading ballots. On the surface, counting votes seems straightforward. We ve all voted in class elections you write your choice on a piece of paper, someone reads the votes and adds them up to get a winner. Easy. But when you start to count votes in large numbers, more sources of error are introduced to what seems like such a simple process. In 2000, one of the problems was with punch-card ballots that worked by using a stylus pen to push little perforated squares called chads out of a piece of cardboard. A machine designed to scan the holes created by the vacated chads counted the votes automatically. The only problem was that it didn t always work well. Chads that didn t fully detach or that weren t punched through could confuse the scanner, a mechanical device that couldn t discern the intent of the voter. Votes that confused the scanner would be set aside without being counted. The voter, in essence, would be disenfranchised denied the right to cast a vote by virtue of his or her ballot not being included in the final tally. Any mechanical method of vote counting is going to have its problems, and if these problems were spread evenly throughout the country, we might be able to write it off as an unfortunate but necessary side effect of trying to count a lot of votes quickly and efficiently. Even though some individual votes would be lost, the outcome of the election wouldn t change. But what if there is reason to believe that some groups of people are disproportionately affected by counting errors? That s the charge leveled by a congressional report released several months after the 2000 election. It found that voting systems like the punch-card method, which tend to make more errors than expensive systems using more advanced technology, were more likely to be used in districts containing low income and minority voters. Consequently, it found a higher rate of uncounted ballots in those districts. If these results are substantiated, they suggest that the inevitable problems caused by vote counting methods fall more heavily on low income and minority voters. In relation to affluent voters, individuals in these groups are disenfranchised at a higher rate. The seriousness of this charge should be understood in the political environment in which the investigation was undertaken. Congressional Democrats conducted the study, and the groups they allege are being disenfranchised are groups that tend to vote for Democrats. That adds a partisan slant to the issue of disenfranchised voters. At the same time, it s an issue that goes to the core of what it means to have rights in a democracy. So, as we consider the possibility that a balloting method systematically disenfranchises groups of voters with shared characteristics, we might ask another question about finding truth in the political process: Can a group with a partisan stake in the outcome conduct a fair investigation? On the other hand, if a group with a stake in the outcome didn t take the initiative to investigate possible wrongdoing, how would potential problems with the political system ever emerge? Automobile Association (AAA) for that convenient towing service end up being spent on efforts to get elected officials to support policies we don t agree with. That s because a democracy as big and complex as ours has great reach in our lives greater than we probably realize. In any form, democracy entails a few basic things: participation by the people, the willing consent of the people to accept and live by the actions of government, and the recognition that we all have basic rights that government can t take away from us. These are the things Abraham Lincoln was talking about in the passage from the Gettysburg Address that mentions government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It s easy to imagine how these prerequisites for democracy might not always hold. We often choose not to participate or may end up unknowingly participating without giving consent. At various times in our history, those who did not own property, people of color, women, and young people were denied the most basic political freedoms. Even today there are indications that poor individuals and minorities are more likely to have their voices dismissed through such inequities as living in communities that use cheaper and less reliable methods of counting votes (see Demystifying Government: Ballots that Disenfranchise). We saw evidence of this as recently as the 2000 election. disenfranchised: Losing or being denied the legal right to vote by intentional or unintentional means. democracy: A government created by the people over whom it rules. Chapter 1 Should We Care about Politics? 5 ker_ch01.indd 5

9 Understand the difference between a direct and representative democracy. direct democracy: Democracy without representation, where each eligible individual participates in decision making. representative democracy: A form of democracy in which eligible individuals choose others to make decisions on their behalf. republic: Any nation with provisions for the selection of representatives who make decisions on behalf of those who select them. James Madison said a republic was a government in which the scheme of representation takes place, as compared to direct democracy. Distinguish between legitimacy and authority. authority: The right to act in an official capacity by virtue of holding an office like president or member of Congress. 1.3 Making Democracy Practical Does this mean that the democratic ideals that our politicians like to praise at Memorial Day parades don t really work in America? Does it mean that they work, but unevenly? How much does government act poorly or inappropriately, simply because the principles it s based on don t fully translate to real world conditions? No system is perfect, but which imperfections are you willing to live with, and which ones, if any, are intolerable? These are hard questions that don t invite a single answer. And they go to the heart of how we function as a people. Democracy is both an imperfect system and a complex idea. In fact, the broad principles we re talking about can take on different forms depending on the circumstances with different results. In the small towns of colonial New England, a form of direct democracy took hold that enabled everyone to have a personal say in what government did. On this small scale, it was possible for every citizen of a town to gather in a meeting place and directly influence the way the community governed itself. When you stop to consider the lines in the parking lot if a nation of 315,248,220 people 1 tried to do something like this, you realize why even when we were a much smaller country we decided to take a different course. Instead of direct democracy, we opted to choose people to represent our wishes in government decision making through the indirect mechanisms of representative democracy. This system also called a republican system (you may have heard the United States referred to as a republic for this reason) depends heavily on some familiar things, like holding free elections and keeping elected officials accountable to the voters. It s far more practical than direct democracy, but the trade-off is that it s also more complex. 1.4 Buying in to Authority For a democracy or any political system to function effectively, we have to buy in to the basic principles it s based on. That s not always so automatic, especially in a large and diverse country like ours where we often disagree on what government should do and even on what society should look like. Some people want government to tax less, while others want it to spend more on social services; some people oppose the death penalty or legal abortion, while others feel differently. Some of these differences take on a moral dimension, where people hold views that they feel reflect the correct way to live, or the way a just society should act. When feelings about these things become intense, people often don t want to give in. At the same time, governing ourselves in a democracy is all about finding room for compromise. Against this backdrop of different values and objectives, there has to be some agreement on the rules of the game on the way we re going to set up our democracy or else the entire system could topple under the weight of our vast disagreements. Let s say your candidate for president loses the election. What are you going to do about it? You may stage protests against the winner, speak out against his actions, or work against him in the next election. But even if you think the winner is an incompetent swine, you re probably going to accept what he does as representing the official actions of the president of the United States. That s because Americans generally respect the authority of a victorious candidate his or her right to assume office and to carry out the responsibilities pertaining to that office. It s one of the rules of the game the vast majority of us accept, even if we sometimes don t like it, and it makes democracy possible. There is nothing automatic about this response; many nations even democratic ones struggle to resolve contested claims to authority, sometimes to the point where a military coup results in the overthrow of a legitimately elected government. Americans have a long history of avoiding violent conflicts over authority disputes. As a society, we ve shown a preference for investing authority in officials we may not like on the understanding that there will be other elections that may produce outcomes more to our liking. Even the most outspoken opponents of President Bush and his policies worked within the system for his political defeat in 2004, rather than advocating the 6 Part 1 Why Should We Care about American Democracy? ker_ch01.indd 6

10 violent overthrow of the government. During the summer of 2009, some demonstrators fearful that President Obama s call for health care reform would lead to a government takeover of medical care stormed meetings with their congressional representatives and angrily called for succession, but they continued to protest within the system rather than actually attempt to leave it. Similarly, maybe you don t like the way one of your professors exercises authority maybe you feel he or she grades arbitrarily but you probably try to deal with it by remembering it s only for a semester or a quarter, and there ll be other classes. So, even a candidate elected by the slimmest margin assumes the jurisdiction to act with the authority of the office to which he was elected. In 1998, former WWF wrestler Jesse The Body Ventura narrowly won a three-way race for Minnesota governor. Almost two-thirds of those voting had chosen someone else. But Ventura became governor and assumed the authority of the office the jurisdiction to propose legislation, negotiate the state s budget, grant clemency to prisoners, and a host of other serious functions. Some cringed when he continued to referee World Wrestling Federation matches, but it didn t interfere with the authority he had from having been duly elected governor of a state. 1.5 Inheriting Legitimacy Now, some people would say that Jesse Ventura was making a mockery of his office when as governor he dressed in the flamboyant outfits of his wrestling days. (Of course, you might just think it was a pretty cool thing to do but like we said before, people hold all kinds of opinions about things.) If you re the type of person who thinks governors should wear suits (or at least shirts), then seeing Ventura in feathers might make you respect him less as governor. Although that does nothing to undermine his formal authority to act as governor, it could diminish his legitimacy, the widespread acceptance of his actions. Diminished legitimacy, in turn, could make it harder for him to maneuver politically because of the resistance he would face from people who doubted him. 2 Legitimacy is a funny thing because, unlike authority, which is granted by virtue of holding an office, legitimacy is partly inherited and partly earned. One source of legitimacy evolves over time and is rooted in the way we come to accept an office and by extension its occupant as being rightful and appropriate. The German sociologist Max Weber suggested this kind of legitimacy is rooted in tradition and law that after hundreds of years, for instance, we have come to accept the presidential winner as the legitimate occupant of that office for a period of four years, under a plan set up long ago in the Constitution. This is why most Americans who voted for someone else accept a new president who attains office through normal, legal, time-tested channels. Even his strongest opponents do not call for tanks in the streets. The legitimacy an official inherits is usually at its peak at the start of a term of office and is often the reason for the honeymoon or grace period we tend to give new officials. This was the case with President Obama, who began his administration with strong job approval ratings of 70 percent or higher. But the initial glow from his inauguration faded after a tumultuous first several months spent advocating for an expensive stimulus package targeted at jump-starting a depressed economy, escalating the American presence in Afghanistan, and initiating a controversial effort to overhaul the health care system. By the end of the summer, only a little more than half the country approved his performance, close to the percentage that had voted for him the previous fall. Following his re-election victory, the president experienced a bit of a second honeymoon with approval ratings in the low 50 percent range hardly a ringing endorsement in absolute terms but stronger numbers than Obama had registered since his first year in office. Obama s honeymoon experience was more typical than his predecessor s. The postelection period that resulted in President Bush taking office was highly unorthodox and infused with partisanship on both sides. There was the unsavory spectacle of lawyers for the Bush and Gore teams working to count every ballot in areas where large numbers of their likely supporters lived while trying to disqualify as many ballots as they could in legitimacy: Widespread public acceptance of the official standing of a political figure or institution. Chapter 1 Should We Care about Politics? 7 ker_ch01.indd 7

11 the other guy s strongholds. The governor of the disputed state of Florida was the brother of the Republican candidate. The question of whether to continue recounting ballots was ultimately decided by the United States Supreme Court in a split decision that broke along ideological lines, with the most conservative justices voting successfully to stop the recount in an action that essentially handed the election to President Bush. Aspects of legitimacy based in tradition and law were tested and, to a degree, undermined by what happened in November and December In fact, the circumstances surrounding this postelection period were so unconventional and irregular that some people were led to the unusual position of questioning the legitimacy of the outcome. With lawyers and Supreme Court justices having had a decisive say in Bush s election, some partisan Democrats and even some reporters talked about whether George W. Bush should be regarded as the legitimate presidential winner. This sentiment was particularly pronounced in the African American community because of the sense that African Americans had been disproportionately disenfranchised by the balloting irregularities discussed in the Demystifying Government box. There is another side to the story, and it speaks to the strength of American political traditions even in the face of actions that question those traditions. Even under the irregular circumstances of Election 2000, a majority of Americans accepted the legitimacy of the Bush administration even some who did not approve of the way he won the office. This speaks to the depth of the American tradition of accepting the declared winner and moving on. It suggests just how strong American traditions are, and how important Americans feel it is as a nation to legitimize elected officials. In one important respect, the question of President Bush s legitimacy was put to rest for many Americans on September 11, 2001, when the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon created an emergency atmosphere in which Americans sorely needed leadership. Bush used his authority as president to speak out against the attacks and lead the American response against al-qaeda, earning him a level of acceptance originally denied him by virtue of how the election was decided. Even Al Gore publicly stated that George W. Bush was his commander-in-chief. 1.6 Earning Legitimacy 8 Part 1 Why Should We Care about American Democracy? In order for our elected officials to act effectively whether it be in addressing terrorist threats or trying to get Congress to approve a budget we have to accept their actions as appropriate, even if we don t always approve of them. Those who questioned if President Obama was rightfully born in the United States and doubted the validity of his birth certificate raised fundamental questions about his legitimacy in an effort to cast doubt on the legitimacy of all his official actions. Rarely is an American public figure faced with this degree of resistance to his legitimacy, although an official can enhance or squander his well of legitimacy through his behavior in office. Ronald Reagan used his communication skills as president to project an image of strength that enhanced his legitimacy. Bill Clinton s involvement with Monica Lewinsky and his subsequent impeachment diminished his legitimacy in the eyes of some. Authority and legitimacy may seem like distant abstractions, but we deal with them almost every day. You re dealing with them in your classroom right now, as you navigate your response to the way your professor has decided to structure this class. Before you enrolled, your professor chose to assign this text, and made decisions about the work you would be required to do, the way grades would be calculated, how course material would be presented, whether you would have the opportunity to earn extra credit, how much emphasis to place on attendance and class participation, and a host of related items. Other professors who teach this course probably would have made different choices because each professor has the authority to define the parameters of instruction and you re left to contend with those choices. You may find you like that style of instruction, appreciate the course, and end up recommending it to your friends. Or you may take issue with anything from the reading load to how you re evaluated to the way lectures are delivker_ch01.indd 8

12 ered. In turn, you may find yourself acquiescing to things you dislike, or you may react by daydreaming during lectures, cutting classes, not reading the material fully, or engaging in any number of time-tested ways to rebel against academic authority figures. Regardless of your reaction, though, chances are you never question your professor s right to teach the course as he or she chooses. In other words, you accept your professor s authority to determine the contours of the course. That is, unless your professor does something that you feel defies the boundaries of his or her authority. Let s look at a hypothetical example of this. Imagine that your professor randomly assigned everyone in your class to one of two groups and permitted everyone in the other group to skip this week s lectures, declaring that they would not be held accountable for the work they missed. You d probably agree that your professor has the authority to determine if someone is entitled to an excused absence from class. To do so in an arbitrary manner, though, without explanation, feels wrong. This capricious quality could well undermine your professor s legitimacy by making it seem as if he or she is acting unfairly. Randomly dismissing some classmates but not others is a heavy-handed thing to do, even if it s technically within your professor s authority to do it, which brings the legitimacy of the act into question. To be legitimate, you might expect everyone to be offered the option to miss the lectures, or at least to be provided with a rationale for why some people will be exempt from attending. When the legitimacy of authority figures is brought into question, it s natural to raise doubts about their right to act as they did, and your choice of how to respond may take on greater urgency than if you simply took issue with their methods of evaluation or one of the many things a professor plainly has the authority to do. Do you accept it and move on, with their legitimacy permanently diminished in your eyes? Do you take action by confronting your professor, or by lodging a complaint with the dean? When you make your decision, how much do you take into account that you re dealing with someone who for the next few months has some leverage over your future someone who will grade you at the end of the semester? 1.7 Power Surge If you find yourself thinking you would probably not want to risk your grade in a confrontation with your professor, you would be giving up doing something you wanted to do in order to protect your GPA. In this case, you would be reacting to the power your professor has over you in your class. Someone has power when they can prevent you from doing something you want to do or make you do something you might not want to do. They can do it by coercing you through implied or overt threats or by influencing you with the promise of something you want or need. In the case of our fictional random dismissal from class, your behavior would be in response to a calculation about the likely cost of a confrontation with the professor. No words have to be spoken because the threat of a lower grade would be implied by the situation. In a raw, basic sense, power is about might rather than right. You could even say that, initially, the people who get to decide the right way of doing things who determine how authority is constituted are the ones who wield power most successfully. Power isn t simply the use of force, though. It s subtler than that. It s about convincing other people of mutually shared interests, or threatening them with the loss of something they want, or actually denying them something they want, or providing them with a favor, or any number of other things that might move someone to act the way the person with power wants them to. In this regard, the person with power has tools in his or her arsenal resources that may be used to change another person s behavior. When the president says he ll veto an act of Congress in an effort to prevent its passage, he is exercising power over Congress, and the resource he s using is the threat of the veto. But the president can also exercise power by using personal charm or sharing the glow of his popularity if he happens to have these resources at his disposal because he s charming or popular. Computer firms that make contributions to congressional candidates Explain how legitimacy and authority are related to power. power: The ability to make others act in a way that they otherwise might not have done. Identify political resources and why they are the tools of power. resources: Anything of value to others that can be used to sway another individual. Chapter 1 Should We Care about Politics? 9 ker_ch01.indd 9

13 DEMYSTIFYING GOVERNMENT Information and Power in the Twenty-first Century It s been widely said that knowledge is power. It s been just as widely said that we re living in the information age and that what we know defines our place in society. These may be overworked sayings, but they re overworked for a reason. The fact is that our world is so technical and so specialized that what we know really does go a long way to determining how powerful we are. That s just another way of saying that information is one of the most important resources we ll encounter in our exploration of politics and government. It shouldn t take too much thought to find places where information matters. Computers are obviously about information, and as we ll find out in a few weeks, the signature media of the twenty-first century like the Internet and twenty-four-hour cable television play a huge role in how we understand political issues, how candidates get elected, and a host of other situations where power is at stake. We ll also find information popping up (literally and figuratively) in less expected places. Members of Congress can t survive without it. Neither can bureaucrats. Next to money, it s the lifeblood of many interest groups. The president relies on all sorts of information about public preferences before making decisions that could affect his political career. So, when you think about power, think about information as one of the foremost tools of power. politics: The process of determining who gets what, when, and how. elitism: The theory that government responds to a small, stable, centralized hierarchy of corporate and academic leaders, military chiefs, people who own big media outlets, and members of a permanent government bureaucracy. People who subscribe to this position believe that the actions of regular citizens, like voting and joining groups, simply mask the real power exercised by elites. pluralism: The theory that government responds to individuals through their membership in groups, assuring that government is responsive to a wide range of voices. People who subscribe to this position believe that the wide distribution of resources in society drives the decisions government officials make. Define elitism and pluralism, and explain how each offers a different view of how resources are distributed in society. in an effort to influence their positions on high-tech matters exercise power with the use of money. Lawyers with expertise, lobbyists with information (see Demystifying Government: Information and Power in the Twenty-first Century), you with your ability to vote in elections all have resources that are desired by others in the political process. Power is exercised when resources are used to achieve a desired outcome. When you stop to think about it, we re involved in power relationships with other people all the time. Sometimes we are in the powerful position of being able to offer or withhold resources others want. Sometimes people have power over us because they control resources like grades that matter to us. Any individual or group with resources can engage in a power relationship, and power relationships are among the most fundamental at every level of politics from the White House to school boards. Quite often, maybe surprisingly, a mutually beneficial exchange of resources gets others to act in a way they might not have intended. In the American political system, the exercise of power is about mutual benefit a lot more than we might suspect. When we start to think of power in terms of relationships, we re getting to the heart of what politics means. We all have things we want to accomplish and things we want to avoid. And we re always involved in relationships with other people. When you bring human desire and human relationships together, you have the essentials of a process that ultimately determines who gets what. When this process happens in a public sphere so that everyone in the country is potentially affected by what happens, we have politics of the sort that matters in government. Almost seventy years ago, a student of the process, Harold Lasswell, called politics the study of who gets what, when and how. 3 Some of us may be more powerful by virtue of having more resources (see Demystifying Government: Do I Have the Resources That Matter?); some of us may get heavily involved by virtue of our interest in what government does. But regardless of our level of power or interest in this process, we are all affected by it even if you never had a single thought about politics before you registered for this course. That s because politics produces winners and losers on everything from whether we ll be sent to war to how much we ll have to pay in taxes to who gets to operate your favorite TV station to whether embryonic stem cells can be used for scientific research to whether you may legally drink beer. Think of something you encounter in your daily life, and the chances are that in some way it s influenced by politics. 1.7a Facts and Judgments Before we go forward, let s determine how facts are distinguished from judgments. Throughout this course, we re going to be making observations based on analysis of 10 Part 1 Why Should We Care about American Democracy? ker_ch01.indd 10

14 DEMYSTIFYING GOVERNMENT Do I Have the Resources That Matter? Everyone has resources, but you can argue to borrow from George Orwell that some resources are more equal than others. Some people believe that the resources that most influence political officials are concentrated in the hands of a few, giving this small group disproportionate power to determine political outcomes. Others point to the way Americans like to join groups and feel that the resources held by groups with broad memberships greatly influence the decisions that come out of the political process. Whether you believe the resources that move the political system are held by a few people or many people determines whether you believe political power is wielded by the few or the many. You may know people who say there s no reason to vote because your vote really doesn t matter, since voting doesn t overrule the actions of powerful, unelected people with wealth, prestige, or access to sophisticated information who make decisions that affect our lives. People who think like this have a lot in common with people who say the political system is characterized by elitism, or the belief that government is in practice controlled by a small, centralized hierarchy of people with a wealth of resources at their disposal. Advocates of elitism believe that a stable, resource-rich, permanent elite drives political decisions in the United States, rendering the vast majority of Americans effectively powerless. On the other hand, many Americans join groups like service organizations; mosques, churches, or synagogues; and other community groups all sorts of organizations where we expend time (a resource) pursuing matters of interest to us. These groups operate in public, allowing us to voice our interests and concerns in a manner in which they ll be heard. As these groups compete with each other for public attention, it s possible that they shape the way government officials listen and respond. If you agree with this assessment, you re in line with those who say the political system is characterized by pluralism, or the belief that government in practice responds to the many (plural) voices expressed through group membership. One advocate of this position is political theorist Robert Dahl, who once wrote of the central role of all the active and legitimate groups in the population, who can make themselves heard at some crucial stage in the process of decision. Obviously, pluralism and elitism present divergent and mutually exclusive ways of understanding who holds power, and sorting through the two approaches is not that simple because it s easy to see where each has merit. It may even be tempting to say that they both describe our political system, but you shouldn t lose sight of the fact that pluralism and elitism assume the system is structured in entirely different ways. Figure 1 (immediately below) illustrates the different ways elitists and pluralists describe the structure of the political system. FIGURE 1 Elitism vs. Pluralism Chapter 1 Should We Care about Politics? 11 ker_ch01.indd 11